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file(n)			     Tcl Built-In Commands		       file(n)

______________________________________________________________________________

NAME
       file - Manipulate file names and attributes

SYNOPSIS
       file option name ?arg arg ...?
_________________________________________________________________

DESCRIPTION
       This   command	provides  several  operations  on  a  file's  name  or
       attributes.  Name is the name of a file; if it  starts  with  a	tilde,
       then  tilde  substitution is done before executing the command (see the
       manual entry for filename for details).	Option indicates  what	to  do
       with  the file name.  Any unique abbreviation for option is acceptable.
       The valid options are:

       file atime name
	      Returns a decimal string giving the time at which file name  was
	      last accessed.  The time is measured in the standard POSIX fash‐
	      ion as seconds from a fixed  starting  time  (often  January  1,
	      1970).   If  the file doesn't exist or its access time cannot be
	      queried then an error is generated.			       │

       file attributes name						       │
	      file attributes name ?option?				       │
	      file attributes name ?option value option value...?	       │
	      This subcommand returns or sets platform specific values associ‐ │
	      ated  with a file. The first form returns a list of the platform │
	      specific flags and their values. The  second  form  returns  the │
	      value  for  the specific option. The third form sets one or more │
	      of the values. The values are as follows:			       │

	      On Unix, -group gets or sets the group  name  for	 the  file.  A │
	      group  id	 can  be  given to the command, but it returns a group │
	      name. -owner gets or sets the user name  of  the	owner  of  the │
	      file.  The  command returns the owner name, but the numerical id │
	      can be passed when  setting  the	owner.	-permissions  sets  or │
	      retrieves	 the  octal code that chmod(1) uses. This command does │
	      not support the symbolic attributes for chmod(1) at this time.   │

	      On Windows, -archive gives the value or sets or clears  the  ar‐ │
	      chive  attribute of the file. -hidden gives the value or sets or │
	      clears the hidden attribute of the file. -longname  will	expand │
	      each  path element to its long version. This attribute cannot be │
	      set. -readonly gives the value or sets or	 clears	 the  readonly │
	      attribute	 of  the  file.	 -shortname gives a string where every │
	      path element is replaced with its short  (8.3)  version  of  the │
	      name.  This  attribute  cannot  be set. -system gives or sets or │
	      clears the value of the system attribute of the file.	       │

	      On Macintosh, -creator gives or sets the Finder creator type  of │
	      the  file.  -hidden gives or sets or clears the hidden attribute │
	      of the file. -readonly gives or  sets  or	 clears	 the  readonly │
	      attribute	 of the file. Note that directories can only be locked │
	      if File Sharing is turned on. -type gives	 or  sets  the	Finder │
	      file type for the file.					       │

       file copy ?-force? ?--? source target
       file copy ?-force? ?--? source ?source ...? targetDir
	      The  first  form	makes  a  copy of the file or directory source
	      under the pathname target.  If target is an existing  directory,
	      then  the	 second	 form  is  used.  The second form makes a copy
	      inside targetDir of each source file listed.  If a directory  is
	      specified	 as  a source, then the contents of the directory will
	      be recursively copied into targetDir.  Existing files  will  not
	      be overwritten unless the -force option is specified.  Trying to
	      overwrite a non-empty directory, overwrite a  directory  with  a
	      file,  or a file with a directory will all result in errors even
	      if -force was specified.	Arguments are processed in  the	 order
	      specified,  halting  at the first error, if any.	A -- marks the
	      end of switches; the argument following the -- will  be  treated
	      as a source even if it starts with a -.

       file delete ?-force? ?--? pathname ?pathname ... ?
	      Removes  the  file or directory specified by each pathname argu‐
	      ment.  Non-empty directories will be removed only if the	-force
	      option  is  specified.   Trying to delete a non-existant file is
	      not considered an error.	Trying to delete a read-only file will
	      cause  the  file	to be deleted, even if the -force flags is not
	      specified.  Arguments are	 processed  in	the  order  specified,
	      halting  at  the	first  error,  if  any.	 A -- marks the end of
	      switches; the argument following the -- will  be	treated	 as  a
	      pathname even if it starts with a -.

       file dirname name
	      Returns  a  name comprised of all of the path components in name
	      excluding the last element.  If name is a relative file name and
	      only  contains one path element, then returns ``.'' (or ``:'' on
	      the Macintosh).  If name refers to a root	 directory,  then  the
	      root directory is returned.  For example,
		     file dirname c:/
	      returns c:/.

	      Note  that  tilde	 substitution  will only be performed if it is
	      necessary to complete the command. For example,
		     file dirname ~/src/foo.c
	      returns ~/src, whereas
		     file dirname ~
	      returns /home (or something similar).

       file executable name
	      Returns 1 if file name is executable by the current user, 0 oth‐
	      erwise.

       file exists name
	      Returns  1  if  file name exists and the current user has search
	      privileges for the directories leading to it, 0 otherwise.

       file extension name
	      Returns all of the characters in name after  and	including  the
	      last dot in the last element of name.  If there is no dot in the
	      last element of name then returns the empty string.

       file isdirectory name
	      Returns 1 if file name is a directory, 0 otherwise.

       file isfile name
	      Returns 1 if file name is a regular file, 0 otherwise.

       file join name ?name ...?
	      Takes one or more file names and combines them, using  the  cor‐
	      rect  path  separator for the current platform.  If a particular
	      name is relative, then it will be joined to  the	previous  file
	      name  argument.	Otherwise,  any earlier arguments will be dis‐
	      carded, and joining will proceed from the current argument.  For
	      example,
		     file join a b /foo bar
	      returns /foo/bar.

	      Note  that any of the names can contain separators, and that the
	      result is always canonical for the current platform: / for  Unix
	      and Windows, and : for Macintosh.

       file lstat name varName
	      Same  as	stat  option  (see below) except uses the lstat kernel
	      call instead of stat.  This means that if name refers to a  sym‐
	      bolic  link  the information returned in varName is for the link
	      rather than the file it refers to.  On systems that  don't  sup‐
	      port  symbolic links this option behaves exactly the same as the
	      stat option.

       file mkdir dir ?dir ...?
	      Creates each directory specified.	 For each pathname dir	speci‐
	      fied,  this command will create all non-existing parent directo‐
	      ries as well as dir itself.  If an existing directory is	speci‐
	      fied,  then no action is taken and no error is returned.	Trying
	      to overwrite an existing file with a directory will result in an
	      error.   Arguments are processed in the order specified, halting
	      at the first error, if any.

       file mtime name
	      Returns a decimal string giving the time at which file name  was
	      last modified.  The time is measured in the standard POSIX fash‐
	      ion as seconds from a fixed  starting  time  (often  January  1,
	      1970).  If the file doesn't exist or its modified time cannot be
	      queried then an error is generated.			       │

       file nativename name						       │
	      Returns the platform-specific name of the file. This  is	useful │
	      if  the  filename is needed to pass to a platform-specific call, │
	      such as exec under Windows or AppleScript on the Macintosh.

       file owned name
	      Returns 1 if file name is owned by the current  user,  0	other‐
	      wise.

       file pathtype name
	      Returns  one  of	absolute,  relative,  volumerelative.  If name
	      refers to a specific file on a specific volume,  the  path  type
	      will be absolute.	 If name refers to a file relative to the cur‐
	      rent working directory, then the path type will be relative.  If
	      name  refers to a file relative to the current working directory
	      on a specified volume, or to a  specific	file  on  the  current
	      working volume, then the file type is volumerelative.

       file readable name
	      Returns 1 if file name is readable by the current user, 0 other‐
	      wise.

       file readlink name
	      Returns the value of the symbolic link given by name  (i.e.  the
	      name  of	the file it points to).	 If name isn't a symbolic link
	      or its value cannot be read, then an error is returned.  On sys‐
	      tems that don't support symbolic links this option is undefined.

       file rename ?-force? ?--? source target
       file rename ?-force? ?--? source ?source ...? targetDir
	      The first form takes the file or directory specified by pathname
	      source and renames it to target, moving the file if the pathname
	      target  specifies a name in a different directory.  If target is
	      an existing directory, then the second form is used.  The second
	      form moves each source file or directory into the directory tar‐
	      getDir.  Existing files  will  not  be  overwritten  unless  the
	      -force  option  is  specified.   Trying to overwrite a non-empty
	      directory, overwrite a directory with a file, or a file  with  a
	      directory will all result in errors.  Arguments are processed in
	      the order specified, halting at the first error, if any.	 A  --
	      marks the end of switches; the argument following the -- will be
	      treated as a source even if it starts with a -.

       file rootname name
	      Returns all of the characters in name up to  but	not  including
	      the  last ``.'' character in the last component of name.	If the
	      last component of name doesn't contain a dot, then returns name.

       file size name
	      Returns a decimal string giving the size of file name in	bytes.
	      If  the file doesn't exist or its size cannot be queried then an
	      error is generated.

       file split name
	      Returns a list whose elements are the path components  in	 name.
	      The  first  element  of the list will have the same path type as
	      name.  All other elements will  be  relative.   Path  separators
	      will  be discarded unless they are needed ensure that an element
	      is unambiguously relative.  For example, under Unix
		     file split /foo/~bar/baz
	      returns /	 foo  ./~bar  baz to ensure that later	commands  that
	      use  the third component do not attempt to perform tilde substi‐
	      tution.

       file stat  name varName
	      Invokes the stat kernel call on  name,  and  uses	 the  variable
	      given  by	 varName  to hold information returned from the kernel
	      call.  VarName is treated as an array variable, and the  follow‐
	      ing  elements  of that variable are set: atime, ctime, dev, gid,
	      ino, mode, mtime, nlink, size, type, uid.	 Each  element	except
	      type  is	a  decimal  string with the value of the corresponding
	      field from the stat return structure; see the manual  entry  for
	      stat  for	 details on the meanings of the values.	 The type ele‐
	      ment gives the type of the file in the same form returned by the
	      command file type.  This command returns an empty string.

       file tail name
	      Returns  all  of the characters in name after the last directory
	      separator.  If name contains no separators then returns name.

       file type name
	      Returns a string giving the type of file name, which will be one
	      of  file, directory, characterSpecial, blockSpecial, fifo, link,
	      or socket.

       file volume
	      Returns the absolute paths to the volumes mounted on the system,
	      as  a proper Tcl list.  On the Macintosh, this will be a list of
	      the mounted drives, both local and network.  N.B. if two	drives
	      have  the	 same  name, they will both appear on the volume list,
	      but there is currently no way, from Tcl, to access any  but  the
	      first  of these drives.  On UNIX, the command will always return
	      "/", since all filesystems are locally mounted.  On Windows,  it
	      will  return  a  list  of	 the available local drives (e.g. {a:/
	      c:/}).

       file writable name
	      Returns 1 if file name is writable by the current user, 0 other‐
	      wise.

PORTABILITY ISSUES
       Unix
	      These  commands  always  operate	using  the real user and group
	      identifiers, not the effective ones.

SEE ALSO
       filename

KEYWORDS
       attributes, copy files, delete  files,  directory,  file,  move	files,
       name, rename files, stat

Tcl				      7.6			       file(n)
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